Published on the 21/07/2014 | Written by John Stanton

John Stanton, CEO of the Communications Alliance, reveals why telco customer service levels will soon be in the spotlight again…

At dinner parties across Australia these days conversation almost invariably turns to the injustice of skyrocketing electricity bills.

But a few years ago the more common topic of collective post-prandial outrage was the poor customer service performance of the nation’s telecommunications companies.

Not that it was universally bad – many Australian telcos have built their business success on the strength of their customer service. Nonetheless, almost everyone, it seemed, had a story – or knew someone who had a story – about an unexpectedly high phone bill or the difficulty of getting a problem resolved with their telecommunications provider. Complaints to the telecommunications industry ombudsman (TIO) had reached record volumes and the Government and regulators were on the brink of implementing harsh new standards and regulations.

The introduction of a stronger new Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) code in 2012, combined with a genuine change of mindset within the industry and a shift to make customer service excellence the new competitive battleground, has seen marked improvements during the past two years.

Complaints to the TIO fell to a six-year low in the last quarter of 2013 and a swathe of new products have hit the market, designed to prevent so-called ‘bill-shock’ – particularly that stemming from mobile data and international roaming charges. Mobile customers now receive mandatory spend alerts as they near their monthly data allowance and have access to other tools to help them manage their spend.

A quarterly survey of telco customer satisfaction, conducted by Roy Morgan Research on behalf of Communications Alliance, is showing a slow but steady rise in satisfaction levels. Telcos are no longer as unpopular as banks (OK, it’s perhaps a pretty low bar, I concede, but progress is progress…).

Research recently conducted by the industry regulator (the ACMA) found that consumers are finding it easier to compare the different plans and products on offer in the market, thanks to the stronger and more standardised requirements for product-summary information to be given to consumers pre-sale.

The ACMA research revealed that 82 percent of consumers had found helpful the new Critical Information Summaries (a standard format description of all the key attributes of a product plan, including price, inclusions and exclusions, performance characteristics and termination conditions) that service providers are making available to prospective customers in their shopfronts and on their websites.

Many consumers believe, however, that it is still difficult to reliably compare the customer service performance of telecommunications companies before deciding with which provider to sign up.

Help is on its way. The Communications Alliance is with working with the TIO to create a regime that will track, over time, the comparative customer service performance of individual communications service providers.

Under the planned scheme, the complaints lodged with the TIO against individual service providers during each quarter will be converted into a ratio of complaints in relation to the total relevant services that the provider has in operation at that time.

In this way consumers will be able to see a graph tracking the comparative customer service performance of individual telcos, their competitors, and whether the achievement of each is trending in a positive or negative direction over time.

Already seven service providers – representing collectively a large majority of the total market – have volunteered to be part of the programme, which will initially operate for 12 months before having its effectiveness reviewed.

It’s up-Kimono time in a way that has never before been seen in the sector. It certainly risks bringing telcos back into the dinner party conversation, but hopefully on a more informed and positive note.

ABOUT JOHN STANTON//

John Stanton is the CEO of the industry umbrella group, the Communications Alliance, and is a seasoned communications industry executive with over 18 years of senior management experience. He is a former CEO of People Telecom, a former President of Intelsat, and former senior executive at Telstra.